


Always: Sea Devil as Other OUAT Ships AU

by thecookiedimension



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Snowing - Freeform, Swan Fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-29 14:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3900082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecookiedimension/pseuds/thecookiedimension
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stand Alone AU stories that follow the listed ships' storylines AS MUCH AS THEY FIT the characterization of Cruella & Ursula. SOME canon stories and facts, and fandom shared headcanons would be included as much as these prove to be sensible to the storylines. Confusing? Don't believe me, just read.</p><p>   -- snowing<br/>-- rumbelle<br/>-- outlaw queen without Zelenarian<br/>-- swan queen<br/>-- swan fire</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. As Snowing Ch. 1

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of the brilliant idea of role reversals in the upcoming Operation Mongoose season 4 finale (but I heard fan fic writers have been doing this long before, is that correct?), here's some Sea Devil AU.
> 
> I get so many feels imagining Sea Devil in these characters WEARING THESE COSTUMES or variations of them (like showing more cleavage?), getting into these scenarios and saying these lines (with slight alterations). Like OMG, this is making me happy. Freak out with me, okay? I see it clearly; they are so cute in these scenarios. Well cute for now, cos as we know, more angst is coming for OUAT ships.
> 
> Feel free to make edits or draw them in these costumes, maybe with some fur or show some tentacles or what. Tag me on Twitter or Tumblr so we can go crazy together in the lava of amazing-ness of Sea Devil.
> 
> Upcoming OUAT ships are Rumbelle, Outlaw Queen (w/o Zelenarian), Swan Queen and Swan Fire.
> 
> I need some help tho for Rumbelle. If you'd like to bounce off ideas, go to: http://thecookiedimension.tumblr.com/post/118443804509/sea-devil-as-rumbelle-fic-help

Snowing

Cru - Charming  
Urs - Snow  
Madeline - Evil Queen  
Prince Fienberg - Princess Abigail

Based on "Snow Falls" set in the EF

============================ 

Princess Cruella immediately rode the horse to run after the thief. With her determination and the agility of her favorite horse, she was able to caught up with the thief in no time and began tackling so they would both fall out of the horses.

"Show your face, you coward!" Just as she was about to hit the thief, she stopped in shock when she saw the face.

"Surprised?" the thief mocked Cruella.

"It's just I've never seen a woman thief in the forest before." Cruella stopped and said in amazement, so much so that the thief strategically hit her in the chin with a rock. Cruella fell over as the thief ran to the horse and fled.

Seeing that her own horse ran away, she gave up the chase for now but screamed, "You can't hide from me! Wherever you are, I will find you!"

The thief looked back with a smile of success on her brown face.

Ursula went back to her tree cave to gather her things and be on the move again. As she headed out, much to her surprise she found herself suddenly caught in a net; a trap tied to a tree. She then heard the most evil laugh, off course only secondary to the evil laugh of her stepmother, Madeline.

"I told you I'd find you." Ursula felt a pang of hatred when she heard the voice of her captor. As much as she's irritated, she's also starting to process the fact that the princess who captured her has a half black, half white hair with strong eyebrow makeup. Weird. Apparently, she missed this part earlier. Well she was striving to survive and escape. 

"No matter what you do, darling, I will always find you." the two tone haired woman mocked her.

"Is this the only way you can catch a citizen of the forest? By entrapping her." Ursula snarked.

"It's the only way to catch a thieving scum."

Ursula smilingly answered, "Aren't you a real princess charming?"

"I have a name you know, darling."

"Don't care; Charming suits you. Oh and stop calling me darling. Now cut me down, Charming."

Cruella was beginning to be amused with all this. "So you can call me Charming but I can't call you darling? The thing is, I call everyone that. And I'll release you when you return the leather pouch you stole with my blood diamonds."

"Not the jewelry type."

"Indeed, I noticed." Cruella enjoyingly teased the woman in the net.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you insulting me?"

"You're quite right. My apologies. How dare I cast aspersions at the person who robbed me. Where are my diamonds?

"I sold them." Ursula said proudly.

"What?!!!" 

"What do you care? Don't you have a palace full of treasures somewhere?"

"These were special. Among them was an heirloom, a diamond necklace that belonged to my mother, that I was about to give..."

"The nag with the bad attitude? That's what this is about?"

"If you must know, darling, I have a fiancee, with a mother who doesn't like me at all. So I was gonna give it to her as a gift."

"Good luck with that. You must be getting something impressive to have agreed to that union."

"Excuse me?" Cruella hated the fact that this woman thief was able to deduce what's happening but she needed to act like she's being misunderstood.

Ursula without hesitation answered, "I know how this works. True love? It doesn't exist. It's all arranged marriages and business transactions. There's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss."

Cruella continued to smile and act like what this woman in the net was saying something false.

Ursula continued, "Let me guess. This fiancee's kingdom wants to take over yours, and this is, what, a last ditch effort to avoid war?"

"Darling, this is not a take-over. It... it's a merger. And quite frankly, it's none of your business. Now this is what's going to happen. I'm going to cut you down."

"Mhhmm."

"And you will take me to whoever has my jewels, and then you're going to get my necklace back."

"Mhhmm. Why would I do that?"

"Because you don't want me to tell anyone who you really are."

Ursula stiffened wondering what could that mean, as slowly, this black and white haired princess pulled out a poster from her jacket. It has Ursula's photo on it, along with the words, "Wanted for crimes against the Queen: Murder, Treason, Treachery."

Cruella then proudly said, "Ursula."

Ursula froze. Cruella continued with her upper hand in this situation, "Help me get my necklace back, or I turn you over to the Queen's forces. And I have a feeling the queen's not as ... Charming as I am?"

Ursula faced and accepted defeat, and finally spoke, "Well, I wouldn't want to stand in the way of your getting "true love." Cruella then cut the net to set Ursula free.

They began their journey into the forest. As they were walking side by side, Cruella noticed something in Ursula's neck.

"I thought you weren't the jewelry type, darling. What's that around your neck?"

"Don't worry about it." Ursula mindlessly answered.

Cruella as impatient as she is, suddenly grabbed that thing in the other woman's neck. In which then Ursula jumped and screamed, "Careful! It's a weapon."

"What, dust? What kind of weapon is dust?"

"If you must know, Princess Charming, even a jar of dirt can prove beneficial. But that, is fairy dust." She tried to grab the mini bottle but this two toned hair woman with strong eyebrow make-up is taller than her.

"I thought that was a good thing." Cruella asked.

"When it comes from a good fairy. This stuff is deadly. It transforms the most fearsome of adversaries into a form that's easily squashed." Ursula grabbed the mini bottle once again but to no avail.

"Then why didn't you use it on me?"

"'Cause you're not worth it." Cruella laughed when she heard that remark.

"It's very hard to come by. I'm saving it for a special someone."

"The Queen. Clever. You've got a lot of anger there, don't you, Ursula?"

Ursula hated it when her motives are being understood. Because the next step to that is people act like they can control her, that they know the exact next steps she would be taking. Amidst this defeated feeling yet again, there's some chill that went into her when this princess called her by her name for the first time. 

"The charges on her posters are lies. Didn't stop her from sending her hunting dogs to rip out my heart."

"What happened?"

"Well good thing I was a sorceress before. So I kind of improvised. I used to have tentacles but she found a way to disable them. But during the attack of the dogs, I was able to try some magic and it worked."

Cruella can't help but be impressed by this brown skinned woman who happened to be a former sorceress and a princess but now a surviving bandit. If there's anything Cruella knows best and can take pride of is the ability to survive.

"But now my magic is waning. I've been hiding in the forest ever since, trying to amass some fortune to leave this place, escape to another realm. Somewhere isolated, where I can never be hurt."

"Sounds lonely." Cruella replied as if to challenge Ursula to get out of that fate, because she knows full well what lonely means, as she is headed that way with Prince Feinberg.

"No lonelier than an arranged marriage." There it is. Yet Cruella secretly admires this woman's sensitivity and smartness.

But she needed to act stand-offish and said, "At least I don't prey on the innocent."

"Up until now, I've only ever stolen from the Queen. I thought your carriage was one of hers. No one else uses that road."

"We took the scenic route."

"Well, lucky for me. All I'm doing, Charming, is what it takes to survive. She wants me dead."

Ursula turned her back and began walking. Cruella followed.

"So uhh... darling, what did you do to incur that much wrath?"

"She blames me for ruining her life."

"Did you?"

"Yes." Ursula was faced with that truth again.

They continued with their journey in silence. 

At some point they came across a stream. Ursula asked Cruella if they can take a rest and drink up to which Cruella agreed. Cruella herself drank some water from the stream, drank gin from her flask, then scooped up some water from the stream again. Ursula used this opportunity to hit the other woman, grab the pouch with gold, and escape from this alliance.

Ursula ran like the tsunami but as the tsunami of fate would have it, she accidentally ran towards the direction where Queen Madeline's Black Knights were. Without the fairy dust to protect her, she was captured. She thought she was finally going to be murdered, but a knife suddenly flew towards the Black Knight's back.

It was Cruella who threw the knife, and came in dashing and began sword fighting the remaining men. Ursula ran but was captured by another knight on a horse. She was figuring out a way to jump from the horse, when all of a sudden a shot of arrow came into their way. This knight had been hit by Cruella, again. As soon as the knight fell, Ursula rode the horse and ran away, only to stop and meet with Cruella.

"Darling, you scared the hell out of me. Are you alright? 

"You... you saved me." Ursula said in amazement. 

"Seemed like the honorable thing to do. Are you ready?"

"For what?" Ursula asked as she became confused hearing the other woman's words.

"My blood diamonds."

Ursula snapped and understood, as she replied, "Right. You've got a wedding to get to. The trolls I sold them to are just beyond the next ridge. We need to be careful."

"What, of trolls?" Cruella asked very innocently.

"You've clearly never met one."

"Aren't they just little people?"

"You're thinking of dwarves. Show a little respect. They'll cut your hand off sooner than they'll shake it."

"Well then, let's get this over with, darling."

"Yes, we've both got places to be. So let's go."

"You have your lonely little corner of solitude to find..."

"And you have your fiancee's mother to appease with jewelry."

They continued in their journey until they reached the troll bridge. Ursula sent the horse away because trolls don't like horses.

Ursula was nervous to deal with trolls again but she didn't have any choice.  
She authoritatively instructed the other woman, "Follow me and keep quiet." 

Cruella isn't one to follow orders unless truly necessary, like her engagement to Prince Feinberg. Even so, she curses and snarks to herself about this fiancee fiasco whenever she's alone.

They walked towards the middle of the bridge. Ursula laid down the gold coins at the platform, and a few seconds later, the trolls emerged from all directions towards them.

Ursula spoke like a boss, "It's fine. I know them."

One troll enquired, "Why are you here? I thought we were done."

"I wanna make another trade."

Trolls are careful creatures. They didn't wish to continue the conversation without knowing who is the other woman with Ursula. 

Ursula assured them, "No, she's with me."

"Oh that's good. With you. That makes it all fine." The same troll answered.

"Oh, she's no one. Look, I want to buy back the jewels I sold you."

"Who is she?"

"I said don't worry about it! Look I'll give you back all your money. You just give me the necklace. You can keep everything else."

The trolls exchanged looks, then one of them handed out the jewels to Cruella, as she spoke, "Thank you. We appreciate the help." Those words alarmed the trolls; they thought this was a set-up.

"It's not a set-up!" Ursula screamed.

The same troll screamed at Cruella and prepared to charge, "She's a royal!" The bridge beast then hostaged Ursula while the others attacked Cruella. Cruella got her sword and screamed, "Let her go!" But they were outnumbered and the trolls strangled her too.

Ursula thought, "If only I have my tentacles, this will all be a piece of cake." But she didn't have it. Not anymore. Nor her singing voice.

And so, the practical thing to do is to reason, "No! You can trust me! Look, you can trust me! If I wanted to set you up, I would have. Don't hurt us!"

The trolls are getting more aggressive, "The time for dealing is done. Search her."

The other trolls inspected all the pockets in Cruella's jacket. They even found the mini bottle of fairy dust but they didn't know of its powers. Then they searched her bag and found the Wanted poster of Ursula. The trolls cheered, until their leader spoke, "Ursula. Quite a reward. Take her."

Sneakily, Cruella was able pick her sword up and began fighting them. She glanced at Ursula and instructed her, "Go! I'm right behind you." Ursula picked the fairy dust bottle and the pouch, and ran. 

Cruella continued fighting, overthrowing one troll to the cliff. As she tried to run away from the bridge, one troll coming from under, grabbed her foot until all of them were dragging her.

Ursula continued running without looking back, "Follow me! They don't know the forest like I do..." When no one answered behind her back, that's the only time she realized her companion didn't make it. She saw Cruella being attacked in the bridge. She was then troubled with what to do next. Escaping is a luxurious option.

Cruella was being strangled in the bridge. The leader troll is ready to cut her head off, "Royal blood is the sweetest of them all," but to everyone's amazement, the blood thirsty troll suddenly turned into a bug. Everyone then saw Ursula in front of them. She used the remaining fairy dust to turn the other trolls into bugs.

Cruella stood up as Ursula approached her, "Dah... darling, you... you saved me."

Ursula smiled seeing Cruella safe, "It's the honorable thing to do."

Cruella shot a confused look at the empty bottle, then turned back her gaze at Ursula and said, "What about your special someone?"

Ursula looked at the empty bottle then threw it on the ground, "I'll think of something else. Who knows I might find a way to get my tentacles back." Though she knew, that was a long shot.

Still shocked at how Ursula would just throw away her only weapon against the Queen, Cruella answered, "Thank you." They began picking their things up so they can leave that beast bridge.

"How could I let Darling Princess Charming die?"

Cruella began to wear a smile. Ursula called her 'darling', along that hideous but a little bit cute nickname, 'charming.'

"I told you. I have a name. It's Cruella."

Ursula started smiling too, "It's nice to meet you, Cruella." 

That smile faded quickly though and Ursula sternly said, "We should go. There may be more of them coming."

They started walking away and in less than half an hour, they arrived nearby Cruella's castle. 

Cruella turned so she and Ursula are standing face to face, as she began to pull the pouch from under her bra. "Oh, you probably want this, darling."

"Right, the gold. Thank you." Ursula got the pouch and kept it safely in her vest. "And, um, you can't get married without this." She handed the pouch with the blood diamond necklace to Cruella. 

As the practical princess that she is, Cruella inspected the necklace heirloom. She lifted it and eyed Ursula, "I know. Not your style."

Feeling teased, Ursula grabbed the necklace, "Well, there's only one way to find out."  
She put it over her ample bosom and liked how it looked on her. Cruella stared too, and enjoyed how it looked on this impressive woman. This lasted a moment.

Ursula finally spoke, "Yeah, not me at all." She handed the necklace over, and continued, "I'm sure your fiancee's mother will love it. You would finally win her over, and you and fiancee would live happily ever after."

Cruella grasped for breath before saying a hesitated "Yeah." 

"If I may ask though, since we're... luckily progressive in this land, this fiancee of yours... is it a guy... or a girl?"

"It's a guy. He's Prince Feinberg of the Southern Isles."

"Oh, I see." Ursula felt disappointed but she snapped out of it quickly so it won't show in her face.

Cruella saw the changes in Ursula's facial expressions though, and she actually liked it. "But darling, I wouldn't mind marrying a girl too, you know." It's true. Cruella had been with other girls too. 

"Oh, okay." Ursula was shocked but a slight smile returned to her face. It took a few seconds before she spoke again, "We both got what we wanted."

"Well, wherever you're going, be careful. If you need anything..."

"You'll find me." Ursula quickly answered.

A moment as they keep gazing at each other.

"Always." Cruella smiled as she looked at Ursula in such an awe. 

But that moment was interrupted when Ursula spoke, "I almost believed that."

Cruella still wearing that smile when Ursula began to pick her things up.

"Well, goodbye, Ursula." She made a bowing gesture.

Ursula imitated and bowed too, "Goodbye, Darling Princess Charming."

"I told you, it's Cruella."

"Nah. Still like "charming" better or "darling charming."

They both chuckled, and then Ursula turned to walk towards the other direction.

Cruella stood as this impressive, former tentacled woman and former princess of a survivor, walked away from her without looking back. There was an air of discontentment but as realistic as she is, she turned and made her journey towards her castle. 

Ursula then looked back to see this curious, black and white haired, selfless princess charming, walk away from her. There was an air of gloom but as practical as she is, as always, she snapped out of it and made her way towards her next hideout.


	2. As Swan Fire Ch. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is Swan Fire but it's also turning into a some sort of 'Romeo and Juliet' but not in the familial aspect. Maybe a good analogy would be how a vampire and human can't be together without compromises and lots of difficulties. Btw, I am also laughing at how this writing is having a life of its own. There were instances wherein I play with some concepts and then when I watch the episode (I mean, I haven't seen this ep in a year) and I hear the exact lines, somehow it all fits. I do have a plan on how it's gonna go and I hope it works. Ok bye. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Cru - Emma  
>  Urs - Neal  
>  Cassandra - Henry  
>  Poseidon - Rumple
> 
> Based on "Manhattan"

Panting. Panic. Ache in the limbs. Worry. Grasping for breath. Excitement. Burning feet. Regret.   
She can't stop. Not now.

-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

No one ever looks for her. She made sure of that. Besides, her intuition; most of the time, it's right. It has been proven right. Perks of being a half-octopus, animal instinct. If that sounds crazy, perhaps being a former half-octopus is crazier. Perhaps being a former mermaid is the craziest of them all. 

Intuition. Someone rang at her apartment. Could be a delivery. Could be any of the people she's seeing. Could be some business stuff. But something tells her, danger is coming. Adrenaline. Animal instinct. 

So out of this possible nonsensical urge, she jumped onto the window. Almost breaking the glass into pieces like in those action movies this realm is so fond of. If only the people here have seen real, vile things. Perhaps it is the same in all realms, evil. She admits this realm is as abusive as any other. And this realm, in any of its historical periods is always evil.

But it proved to be sensible after all. Jumping to the window as fast as she can led to her climbing down the exit stairs as fast as she can. And then what. She saw two people at the entrance of the building acting mysteriously. She didn't see their faces. Only one of them was wearing a hat. As soon as she landed in the ground, the one in a hat started chasing her.

Ursula bolted. She could be winning a marathon now with the use of her tentacles, but no, inconveniently, this is a land that does not allow for her magic, or any magic to work. How she envies Dr. Octopus now, or Spider-man seems to be the better bet. And so she needed to rely on her human arms and legs to get away. Get away from someone she's not even sure is chasing her. But could everything be so coincidental, and that she's only paranoid? 

Panting. Panic. Ache in the limbs. Worry. Grasping for breath. Excitement. Burning feet. Regret.   
She can't stop. Not now. Just to be sure, no stopping.

Sprinting for blocks now, and she's sure that the one in a hat was totally following her. That determination of that person to race the streets of New York with her, explained it all. She suddenly was taken back to a memory of a woman who was so determined to follow her. To even steal boring watches for her.   
"Because let's face it, if we are going to be high risk thieves, why watches and not blood diamonds, darling?"   
"Because at that point, only watches were available to steal. Don't worry, I'll buy you real fur once we got ourselves the cash."

That memory didn't distract her from the running she's doing. In fact, it might had been a good luck charm, even if she doesn't believe in that. There's no such thing as luck, though she actually lost the one pursuing her.

She kept running until boom! She was tackled; out of nowhere someone attacked her and they both fell on the nice pavement in between buildings.

She had the right to be paranoid because there's no such thing as coincidence. There's only fate. Fucking fate. And once again, there's no such thing as luck. And that memory actually distracted her after all. A distraction that she didn't know would prepare her for this moment. But really nothing could ever prepare her for this. Not for what's to come. All three revelations at once. Maybe more.

There's only a little ache all over her body. She's used to cleaning in the aquariums so she knows physical energy. She effortlessly lifted her head up, but she then immediately wished she took more time because she can't fathom what was in front of her. Slowly, she saw a woman whose hat fell into the ground, now revealing a split black and white hair, that she was once very fond of.

"No. Ursula?"

"Cruella?"

After a moment of shock, Ursula needed to speak. Somebody had to. But it wasn't pure shock though, there was also some form of relief and glee in seeing this woman again as she softly spoke, "I don't understand. What are you doing here?"

But Cruella answered in a harsh tone. "What am I doing here???"

"Yeah."

"I'm not answering anything until you tell me the truth! Are you Hippios' daughter?"

As much as seeing Cruella again was confusing, Ursula was getting more confused and a little bit pissed. "What are you talking about? Who's Hippios?"

"You played me. You're from there too. You... played me. Off course, you did darling. That's what everybody does. The kids at the playground, Ingrid, and then you. Why would you be an exception?"

"What??? Slow down, Cru."

"You played me. You and Hippios. You all just want to use me! Well, that's about to change, darlings. Just you wait and see."

"What are you talking about? Who's Hippios? A ghastly name, to be honest."

"Your father." Cruella snapped. Ursula was surprised but in no way believing what she's hearing. It's too impossible.

"Poseidon." Cruella spoke again. 

Neverland wasn't a place of secrets so everyone there knew, but in this realm, Ursula have kept the secret of her identity the whole time. Not even Cruella knew about this. Unless she played her too?

"He's here?"

"Why else would I be in New York?"

For some reason, Ursula felt that Cruella's telling the truth. She still knows when this two toned hair woman is lying or not. Realizing this, she raised her voice, "You brought him to me?!! Why would you fucking do that?!!" 

"Darling! I am the only one allowed to be angry here!!"

Ursula was getting impatient with all that was happening. Though it was true, Cruella had every right to be mad at her, but something tells her, there was more to that statement.

Cruella raised her voice even more, "Did you know who I was, where I was from, the whole time? Did you know the truth about me? The truth I didn't even know?!!"

"Cru.... uhh.. wait."

"Was it just some sort of sick, twisted plan? Did ... did you even care about me, at all?! I wanna know! I want the bloody truth, all of it! And darling, trust me, I will make you tell me!"

"Fine! We...we gotta get off the street. We can't do it here. We're out in the open. I... I spent a lifetime running from that man. I'm not gonna let him catch me."

Cruella was still tensed. Ursula even more. The secret life she carefully built was now crumbling down all at once. 

But somehow, Ursula was able to speak calmly. "There's a bar down the street that I know for sure is serving gin. We can talk there."

"I will get myself some gin later. I need it more than ever. But I'm not drinking with you! I need answers! Tell me now, here."

"No, bar's better. Don't worry. You can... keep yelling at me, causing a scene like you always loved to do, when we get there."

Ursula started walking and Cruella can't do anything but follow. Both of them seem to have a pattern of following each other. And as always, this has proved to be destructive for both. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sitting now at the bar, they're both tensed but Ursula, as she's the more balanced headed between the two, was able to speak in a more low key manner.

"Well, what do you wanna know, Cru? You want the truth. Ask away. "

"Did you know who I was when we met?"

"If I had, I wouldn't have gone near you." Ursula answered but still tugging away some information.

"Really, darling?"

"Really, darling, what? I was in hiding. I came here to get... get away from... all that crap."

"So if you didn't know, then you were just using me. You just needed someone to take the fall for all the watches you stole." Cruella felt a pang of disgust as she realized that as much as she's tough, snarky and manipulative of everyone, there were three times in her life when she easily let other people take advantage of her. She had embraced the magical side of her when she had the chance but circumstances prevented her to continue.

"I wasn't using you. When we met, I didn't know. I found out. And you were more than a threat to me than I to you so I fled. Well, there's more to that but..."

"How did you find out? And by the way, you were also hiding a lot of things from me."

"When I went to sell the watches, I ran into this magical... well this sorcerer named Rumplestiltskin. He told me about what you are and I got scared."

"So you just left me, and let me go to prison because you got scared?" 

"Cru..."

"I loved you." Tears began to form in Cruella's eyes when she dared speak those words. But what can she do; it's not about being bold, but honesty flowing naturally when you're hurt.

Ursula looked down before answering, "I was trying to help you be who you are supposed to be. Even if it means, we can't be together."

"Are you telling me that us meeting was a coincidence? Because how the hell did that happen? If it wasn't in your plan?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was fate."

"You believe in that? I don't even know who the Ursula I knew before!"

"You know, there's not a ton about my father that I remember that doesn't suck. But he used to tell me that there are no coincidences. Everything that happens, happens by design, and there's nothing we can do about it. Forces greater than us conspire to make it happen. Fate, destiny, whatever you wanna call it. The point is, maybe we met for a reason."

Cruella twitched her lips. Ursula continued, "Maybe something good came from us being together."

Cruella, still mad, confused, with some tears flowing in her cheeks, formed a mocking smile on her face before speaking, "Darling, no. Not that I can think of. I just went to jail. For you. Doesn't matter now. I'm over it. And you."

Cruella drank the remaining gin in her glass, and stood up, accidentally revealing something in her neck that Ursula easily saw. 

"Why do you wear the, uh, key chain I got you ?" The situation was tensed but Ursula can't help but form a slight smile in her face when she asked for that information. At least there's some sliver of hope in all this?

Cruella felt like an idiot even more. Can this day be as devilish more? Off all the days she could have forgotten to wear this necklace key chain, why today she didn't? When this object only reminds her of her dork days with Ursula. Really, a key chain with a puppy engraving on one side and an octopus on the other? 

But she needed to reply. She can't escape this when it's literally in front of them. "To remind myself never to trust someone again" as she grabbed the necklace and handed it to Ursula. 

"Come on. I made a deal with your father. I'd bring you to him."

"You... you made a deal with him?" Ursula tensed again. 

"Yes. And I am upholding my end."

"You do know you don't have to actually do this?"

"I know, darling."

"Then it would be easy for you. Tell him that you lost me. Tell him you can't find me. You do that, you'll never have to see me again."

That's an offer very hard to resist.

Cruella remained standing, thinking for a moment, then gave Ursula a last look before leaving the bar.

-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x--x-x--x

She went back to Poseidon and when she told him of her failure, he stubbornly broke the apartment door. He's not giving up just yet. With all the insanity of the day, the good thing about this is Cassandra, her daughter, tagged along in this trip. She hugged her tightly; she needed some comfort. A comfort she never thought can come from caring for a child. After all, she always knew she wasn't mother material that's why she gave up this child years ago. But power has a way of reuniting people so that this very potential of power can continue, and thrive. This daughter of hers is so much like her that caring for her is not at all tedious. But she wants to keep Cassandra all to herself.

She wanted to leave but Poseidon is determined to stay and wait in the apartment. She can't run away because she made a deal with this guy. What she can do is to trick him into leaving. It didn't work. This man is brilliant than she ever thought. And has a temper. He started yelling at her for wanting to give up on this journey. All he wants is to see and make amends with his daughter before it's too late. With all the yelling of Poseidon, and Cruella, confused and mad about everything, all she wanted to do was to curse at him and curse at this fucking life. But she can't. Her daughter was just in the other room. Suddenly, as if to save Cruella from her misery, the apartment door burst open.

"Leave her alone." 

Poseidon was surprised and he softened his facial expression. He was taken aback by how this dream of his is now a reality, that he literally, involuntarily, stepped back. 

"Ursula." He only dreamed of speaking that name while actually seeing his daughter. And now it's a reality.

She looked at him with disdain, but softly, keeping her cool.

"You came back for me." Poseidon proudly spoke with a hint of relief in his voice.

"No. I came to make sure you didn't hurt her." Ursula worryingly looked at Cruella. Poseidon looked from Ursula to Cruella with a sort of confused thought that he quickly brushed off. Ursula continued speaking, "I've seen what you do to people who have wronged you."

"Please, Ursula, let me talk."

"I have no interest in talking to you. You can go."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Get out of my apartment!"

Cruella slowly moved forward to ease the situation and spoke softly, "Ursula..."

"Cruella, I got this, okay."

A beat.

"You two know each other. You to know each other. How?" Poseidon's voice changed from calm to alarmed.

"Well you sent me chasing after her, darling."

"No, no, stop. Stop it! You're lying. How do you two know each other?!"

As if things can't get worse, Cassandra emerged from the other room walking towards them all. 

"Mom, what's going on?"

Poseidon surprised and yet beginning to understand all of this.

Ursula still has no clue. Emotions taking over her. This day will go into the disastrous days list.  
She needed to speak because no one is, "Who's this?"

Cruella quickly glanced at Ursula then focused back on Cassandra as she muttered, "My daughter."

"What?" Ursula can't believe what she's hearing, and what she's seeing. Cruella, a mother. As if someone put her on a dare. Though some flashes of memory are coming back to Ursula but she's too confused, angry, shocked at everything, she can't think straight.

"Is that Ursula? Mr. Poseidon's daughter?" Cassandra spoke with a caring voice yet with a combination of sass. How can she do that?

Cruella didn't answer that query but instead cupped her daughter's face and said, "Darling, I need you to stay in the other room for a little while longer, okay? Come on, Cassandra."

With the odd feeling of seeing Cruella, actually acting to care for a child, Ursula felt some uneasiness, and needed to ask, "Wait. H... How old are you?"

Cruella carefully dragging Cass to the other room, whispered to her ear, "Don't answer her."

"How old are you, kid?!!"

"11! Now why is everyone yelling?"

Ursula can't believe what she's hearing, "She's 11?"

Cass, inheriting the smarts, the determination, the sass of her parents, slowly realized what's unfolding in front of her but she turned to Cruella and politely asked, "Mom?" But Cruella stood silently looking only at her daughter.

"Is she my daughter too?" Ursula finally asked. Cruella turned her gaze towards Ursula, still not speaking but wearing a face of defeat. 

"Is she... my daughter?" Ursula once again asked as Cruella turned away to touch Cassandra's hair and look at her daughter's eyes intently and finally saying, "Yes."

Cassandra's instinct was proven right. Even if she had an inkling moments ago, all this is still shocking. Being a daughter of two villains, her first thought was to run, escape, and devise a plan of having a little revenge on being lied to. But she's only getting to know Cruella as they found each other a couple months ago. And really having another mom sounds thrilling to her that she might just forgive these two for whatever fuckery they have done. And so, she just jumped onto the window and climbed upstairs to the rooftop. Cruella followed her.

Ursula wanted to follow them but she was stopped by her father. "Ursula... please. Please. All I want is a chance to be heard." She refused but her ever manipulative dad was able to trick her to to talking. He explained that the deal with Cruella was for her not to only reunite them but for them to talk about things. With an ever growing disdain, Ursula sternly replied, "Okay, you've got three minutes."

-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So that's her, huh?" Cassandra asked her mom with a cool manner of speaking. Her shock was slowly wearing off.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Darling, it's because I never thought I would see her again. I never wanted to."

"Why not?"

"She was a liar, a manipulative girl. She... broke my heart."

"I could have taken it, you know. The truth."

"I know, darling. I know. She was just a part of my life I... wanted to forget. That's why I didn't tell you. I was thinking of me, not you."

"I want to meet my other mom."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Clock's ticking." Ursula uttered those words as she shot a piercing look towards her dad.

"I know I've made mistakes. But you must believe me. I wanna make up for it. There's no greater pain than regret."

"Try being manipulated, being forced to do things you don't want to do. And yet, here we are in the same situation, right daddy?"

"Please. Let me make it up for you."

"How are you gonna do that?" 

"You can come back with me to the sea. You can have your reign. We can be father and daughter again."

"I love the sea but I can't go back now. Apparently, I have a daughter. And I want a chance to be a good parent. One that would do exactly the opposite of how you treated me."

"I do understand. We can bring her. Get her from Cruella."

Laughingly, Ursula replied, "Are you... are you insane? Here you are again with your manipulations."

"No, Ursula. You have known for a while now what she's capable of doing; Cruella can--"

"Cannot hurt anybody here in the Land Without Magic. Or if she can, do you honestly believe she would hurt her own daughter?"

"How are you sure it's hers? That her blood flows through that little girl? You've stayed in this land for too long. You know how this "scientific" processes that these humans call can very much fail. We're not even sure if she's yours too."

"I am not listening to this, father! You cannot control me. Again. I won't let you. "

"Ursula..."

"No. Just go. I don't want you in my life again. I don't want you near Cruella and my daughter."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x--x-x-x-

"Oh hey, darling. She wants to meet you."

Ursula casually, with no anger, but more in a mocking tone, told Cruella, "You weren't gonna tell me about her."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, well she's my kid too. I mean, is she really? Because I want her to be."

"I know how much you wanted to have a child. And so..."

"Yeah how did that happen? I left you to rot in prison, remember?" After the conversation with her dad, Ursula's becoming feisty.

"Yes. You did. I very much remember. I was drilling that event to your head in the bar just a few hours ago, darling."

"You didn't have to. I know. I was the one who did it. Now, how the fuck did this happen?"

"Well, I... we... or you used to talk about having a child back in our thieving days. I didn't want to. But if it's with you and if it would make you happy, maybe it can make me happy too."

"Go on."

"So I got ourselves into a lab and had our egg cells extracted and kept for preservation. That's very costly but I'm Cruella de Vil so I managed that and--"

"What? How come I don't remember any of this?"

"Because I made you drunk, darling."

"Wow, so you think I am the liar, I am manipulative when you are more cruelly wicked than me."

"Am I, really? Don't be flabbergasted, darling. It was meant to be a surprise. I got myself inseminated, even if I didn't want to because of the pain and the hassle of bearing a child, but because..."

"Because what?"

"Because I was foolish enough to love you that I went with it, and wanted to surprise you and tell you after we got the watches and move to Tallahassee."

"Wow, you did all that for me?" Ursula was sincerely amazed, and felt loved by Cruella with that revelation.

"Yes. And what did you do again to me?" 

"I'm sorry. We clearly have to talk about a lot of things between us. We have to fix a lot of things."

"So there's an us now? One more thing, darling. You never told me why you can't bear a child. You just said you can't. But seeing there's this whole Poseidon and the sea thing, I mean I'm now understanding why you are so fond of octopus and the sea--"

"And you apparently can control animals so are you now suddenly interested in learning about the sea and what, controlling me for your every whim? You did make me drunk to extract my freakin' egg cells. I bet you would have preferred magic so everything would be easy, huh?"

"Hey you knew about my ability and you didn't tell me after you discovered, you just ran. And this is a Land Without Magic. Not only that, you actually knew about this murderous urge that I'm destined for, which I didn't have any idea previously, and guess what, you ran away instead of helping me deal with this."

"I know saying I got scared is a lame excuse. Cru, we need to talk about all these. Settle our issues but for now, can I just see my daughter?"

"Right. She wants to know you too, so go talk to her."

Ursula started walking forward but Cruella stopped her and said, "But darling, don't break her heart."

"Trust me, I'm not gonna do to her what my father did to me."

"And what you did to me."

"Okay, I get it. We're all messed up. What do you say, we try to avoid that with her? All right?"

Ursula walked towards the window and climbed upstairs to the rooftop. As much as she's confused, angry and tired, she's also thrilled, nervous and feeling some good energy or good vibes in meeting her daughter.

"So... you're my other mom."

"Yeah."

"I'm Cassandra."

"It's a beautiful name. It's nice to meet you, Cassandra. Can I call you 'Cass' ?"

"You want to be in nicknames basis already?"

"I'm sorry if you don't want to, I--"

"Relax. That is my nickname actually. And I would love it if you call me that."

"Sorry I took so long."

"It's okay. You didn't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the insemination situation probably sounds crazy!! Maybe it can be a bit compared to the insanity of the Zelenarian thing? But that conversation between Cru & Urs, was so fun to write. So yeah. And tbh, I can't think of any explanation as to how they have a biological daughter. I might expound on this in the future, about the sperm donor, maybe. I mean, Cru would be very choosy, wouldn't she? And this whole thing was a surprise, is this romantic or creepy? I think of all people, it's Cru who can truly pull off romantic and creepy simultaneously.


End file.
